New York – March 22, 2012 - Badoo, the world’s largest social network for meeting new people, marks its official U.S. launch today, March 22, with the largest public fashion photo shoot New York has ever seen. Actor and entertainer Nick Cannon is teaming up with four of America’s hottest fashion photographers to capture the portraits of 1,000 New Yorkers over three days. Everyone that takes part will walk away from the shoot with the ultimate online profile picture, and the 24 best portraits will appear on billboards and taxi-tops around New York City, running from the end of April through May. What better way to meet new people?

Nick Cannon will be among the first to have his profile picture taken at The Badoo Project, taking place from Thursday March 22 through Saturday March 24, at the Soho loft, “82 Mercer”. He will share his own Badoo experience, as well as let people in on his ultimate networking tips: how to stand out in a crowd, how to maximize your profile page, take a great picture, and give your social life a boost, by using apps like Badoo to connect with new, like-minded friends. To register for the photo shoot (it’s free, but slots are going fast!), go to http://theproject.badoo.com.

Nick Cannon says: “I’m all about The Badoo Project’s mission to update New Yorkers’ profiles, because the truth is, everyone needs a great online profile picture! My advice to New Yorkers is to take a photo that is true to you! At The Badoo Project, to look your best, simply be yourself in all your unique glory. Let the professionals do the rest.”

Nick on Badoo.com: “Most people use Badoo for friendship, chatting, dating, and making new contacts. I travel a lot for work and use sites like Badoo to find out about new clubs or bars from people that might share my interest in music, or simply to connect with my fans. It’s a website as well as an app, so it’s really easy to use while you’re on the road”.

22 New Yorkers’ portraits will be selected by judges after The Badoo Project shoot, to appear on billboards and taxi tops around NYC, launching at the end of April and running throughout May. A further two finalists will be selected by the public via Facebook. The guy and girl with the most Facebook likes next to their image on The Badoo Project website (http://theproject.badoo.com) will automatically have their close-up plastered across New York City as the “People’s Choice” winners, alongside the other new NYC celebrities!

Badoo's iPhone and Android mobile apps, with their location-based functionality, mean The Badoo Project photoshoot will also be a chance for guests to break the ice, flirt and chat with new people on the spot. Who knows, they could even find themselves having cocktails next week with Nick!

Jessica Powell, Badoo’s Chief Marketing Officer comments: “As more and more New Yorkers become accepting of alternative ways to meet new people, Badoo presents a modern solution to the age-old conundrum of how to expand your social circle. Badoo also solves the other common problem with social networking – which is that it keeps you glued to the computer screen reading people’s status updates, instead of getting out into the real world, and actually meeting new people. Badoo was founded in 2006 and has 6 million US users already. It is growing fast following its runaway success in Europe and Latin America, where – with 140 million users – it has established itself as the world’s largest social network for meeting new people”.

For further information on The Badoo Project, go tohttp://theproject.badoo.com. You can also tweet about your adventure at #badooproject or share it at Facebook.com/Badoo. Voting for the “People’s Choice” winners opens on March 26 athttp://theproject.badoo.com.